Ex-gang Member Gets 35 Years

NEW BRITAIN — A former gang member who ambushed and killed a reputed member of a rival gang outside a city bar 10 years ago began serving a 35-year prison term Thursday for the slaying.

Roy Figueroa, a former member of the Netas street gang, pleaded guilty in September to shooting Angel Acevedo outside the Las Vegas Cafe on Oct. 15, 1994. Two others were wounded in the shooting.

Acevedo, an alleged member of the Latin Kings, was with a group of Latin Kings who met Netas members at the bar to try to ease bad relations between the two gangs, court records state.

But the attempt at a truce ended badly when, police said, a leading Netas member told Figueroa to stand outside and shoot senior Latin Kings members as they left the bar.

Acevedo was shot as he left the bar. One of the shots that hit him went through his body and hit another man in the knee while another bullet went through the wall of the building and hit a woman sitting at the bar in the shoulder. Those two victims survived.

Figueroa, 30, was silent in court Thursday during the sentencing.

He said nothing as the slain man's sister, Janet Acevedo, spoke briefly in court about her brother, who would have turned 37 last week.

She told Figueroa that he deserves more than 35 years behind bars for the killing.

``My brother was a father, a son and an uncle and you've taken all that away from us and everyone who loved him. You took away a good person,'' Janet Acevedo said, tearfully. ``Last week was his birthday and all we could do was bring flowers to his grave.''